Fruit, Muskets, Steam Punks, Vaudevillians and Dogs
by Ellegant Elliot
Summary: What happens when you mix an arrogant rifleman; a silent, masked ninja; a blind girl, and her dog; and a girl, who may very well be from the circus? Well, I'd say madness and fun, but that's for you to decide! XD Mainly about character development early, before delving into deeper topics. Will have SYOC possibilities, at multiple stages. Rated: T, for now but may become M. *Spoopy*
1. New Faces, New Masks

**AN: Hey guys, this is gonna be my first uploaded fic. I have written for a considerable amount of time but have only recently joined the FanFiction community. While I hope this story is of the highest quality I can manage, I hope that stories I upload later will be better through the experience I gain. Of course, drop a review; it would help tremendously in my journey to become the best author I can be and, in turn, will allow me to upload better content for readers.**

 **Obviously I don't own RWBY nor any of the canon characters. They go to Monty Oum and the RoosterTeeth team. I do, however, make the wishes that my OC's remain mine and if they are to be used (not that I think they will), that I'm given some notice and credit (or if you're thinking of using them, just message me, I'll probably be fine with it).**

 _ **Chapter One: New faces, new masks.**_

* * *

Beacon was an old school, well refined and well respected. It had produced excellent hunters and promised many more. It trained the perfect demographic, young adults, to fight Grimm. These students are known as hunters and huntresses. They protect the kingdoms of man from its enemies, whether it be beast or man himself.

Most students had heard of Ruby Rose, a fifteen year old girl, who was accepted to Beacon early, under special conditions. Moss, however, had not heard of any such thing, until now.

He overheard two students talking about Ruby; he was concerned, to say the least. "Why would they let someone so young into Beacon?" He thought to himself.

Moss was confident, yet cynical. Quite the arrogant personality, he had never formed a close relationship with either of his parents; if anything, the death of his mother had been a good thing.

As he drifted off in his thoughts, wondering what Beacon would look like, he felt his scroll buzz. Usually, someone from his hometown wouldn't own a scroll but his dad had specifically acquired one to stay in contact to speak with Moss. It read, "Good luck, make some friends! :)" The first thing his dad had ever said to him in three years, he wasn't going to justify it with a response. He stood at the window, looking over the landscape of Vale. It was still foreign to him but he enjoyed the fresh view of towering buildings and bustling streets.

Moss wore a green formal shirt, wrapping around his lean figure; where the buttons met, the green shifted from murky to light. Accompanying, was a pair of black suit pants, surrounded by a white belt, at the waist. Connected to the belt, was a flintlock pistol. He had another belt running around one shoulder, like a sash. This sash held a musket and a halberd. The halberd had a sponge at the other end, acting as a sort of pommel.

Looking to his face, he had black, messy hair. His emerald eyes were hidden behind a pair of black tinted, gold framed, aviators. His facial features were round, with a touch of sharpness to them.

The airship began a locking procedure to engage with the docks, on Beacon's cliffside. As the ship's doors opened, they hissed, letting off small pumps of steam. They slowly revealed the academy: a set of, rather large, buildings, with one towering above the rest.

Moss shifted his glasses, took them off, fogged them up and wiped them on his shirt; all the while, keeping his eyes closed. He let the large crowd of stampeding teenagers exit the ship, before following with the stragglers, avoiding the troubled of being trampled.

As he stepped off, he felt something behind him, not a physical thing but a tingling. He looked back, noticing there was somebody there. Scanning the mysterious person, Moss figured they were around the same height, on the six foot mark. They were unmoving, like a statue, stood in a dull, red hooded robe; with an odd pattern streaked across it. It looked like the robe had been slowly painted black, diagonally from the feet, making it look like it was acidly eating at the red. The most notable feature was the white mask, with a red line streaked down from the forehead to the point of the nose; there were also red streams streaming from the eyes and the mouth line was painted in a black line. The mask was styled like an Okami, a snout stretched out like a wolf and from a distance it looked like just that, a wolf. Upon a more detailed inspection, he noted that it was stylistically resemblant of a fox.

Moss moved back to get a better look.

As he circled the figure, the mask followed him, eyes drilling through him. He studied the robe, realizing that there were metal wires clutching onto the material, holding the robes tightly against the body. The wiring was painted in the colour that corresponded with the robe; making it hard to notice until the viewer was directly next to the wearer. The exoskeleton seemed to have openings in the wiring and the robes. What the purpose was, was unknown to Moss.

Moss returned to the front, the eyes still seemed to peer out at his. Even when both of their eyes were hidden behind a pair of glasses and a mask, respectively, they both felt like the other could see their eyes.

Moss hesitantly extended his hand, curiously testing if they would return the gesture. As he outstretched his arm, the mask looked down, following its movement; turning its head, it almost looked like an inquisitive fox, studying the motion. Moss stopped his arm, giving time for the fox to observe and judge the gesture. It started to, almost slower than Moss, return the shake. Every creak of the ship would force his arm to flinch, every time Moss' arm trembled from the tension, its arm would stop, before hesitantly starting again. As their hands met and oddly interlocked, it became apparent that neither had shaken hands before. Moss had only seen other people do it and the other person only assumed what the correct response was.

The ship's intercom buzzed a little before a message was played, "The ship will be departing in one minute, all new students should make their way off the ship and make sure they are not returning with us. Thank you and enjoy your time at Beacon." The speaker buzzed again before dying down.

"The name's Moss. You are one interesting piece of machinery my friend." He said, in a respectful and admiring fashion.

They disengaged the handshake and made their way on to the pathway leading to the school.

They stopped, as it seemed a reply was imminent. "The name's Persi. You are one interesting piece of human." He echoed, imitating the tone. Moss figured this guy wasn't much of a talker but respected him nonetheless.

"Friends?" Moss asked, he seemed as good as any to be friends with; his mystery intrigued Moss. Mystery always meant something surprising and, from what Moss had observed, this surprise would be good.

Persi seemed to think for a second, the mask showing no emotion. "Friends." He replied firmly, dropping the imitating tone.

* * *

 **AN: Woah, it feels good to get that on to here. Tell me what you guys think and I'll get around to making chapter two when I can! Feedback is always good, just keep it constructive.**

 **Until next time, this is Mossman, have a good day! :)**


	2. A Blind Man Walks into a Bar

**AN: Hey everyone, as always, I've forgotten the most important rule of writing. As pointed out by a reviewer, I need to show and not tell. Thank you for this, I might not have realized without this review.**

 **Just for a little context, I always forget this early in a story. As I get more comfortable in this story, I will hopefully rid myself of this horrible habit.**

 **Anyway, on to chapter 2, where there will be much more showing and less telling. This chapter will actually be a first person chapter. I'm not sure how often I will do POV's. If I'm doing a first person chapter, the POV character will be stated at the start. If a story is a POV, it will not switch to third person, it will stay first person until the next chapter.**

 _ **Chapter Two: A Blind Man Walks into a Bar**_

* * *

 ** _POV Character: Saffron_**

The ship was far too cramped for me, I was glad to rid myself of it. I think Fabre was glad too. I looked to Fabre and inquired, "What do you think?" He looked back to me but didn't reply.

I shifted my cane and glasses, making sure the glasses were covering my eyes properly and securing my grip on my cane. I tapped my foot, observing my surroundings. Just like the ship; a bunch of weird and, for the most part, surprisingly sweaty teenagers were flowing through the path leading to the school. Thankfully they weren't quite so cramped together, like on the ship I had to deal with.

These other people were so weird, strangely greeting each other and… touching each other' hands. It was quite distressing for me, I wasn't quite sure if Fabre was even paying attention to half of the things that were happening. I heard the mumbles of conversation, no distinct words but talking, nonetheless.

I looked down to my right arm, a cane in hand. The cane was of a hard wooden material, though I had never known exactly what type of timber it was; my parents had bought it for me. I flexed each finger, feeling the metal creak along with them. Occassionaly, a small gust of steam would escape from the joints in the gauntlet that covered my arm. The hand was pretty basic, just being a smooth metallic fitting. The arm, however, was bulky but quite sleek for its design. The gauntlet ran up to my shoulder, filled with pistons and valves, much larger blasts of steam broke through. I could hear each cylinder extend and retract and each cog whir together with the next. It only made me feel more alienated from the others.

Suddenly, my ears picked up some words. I focused in, trying to identify the voices. One sounded like a man's voice, smooth on the ears, with a friendly and confident tone. The other was quite muffled, harder to distinguish from the general chatter but I could make out some words; it sounded foreign and curious in ways but had a slight firmness to it, it had also sounded male in tone.

They stopped…

"Fabre, what are you doing?" I said, as I looked to Fabre and realized he had gone as stiff as a stone, staring at something. I followed where he was looking and found a strange, fox like mask. With small ears carved on top and a snout sticking out. It was supplemented by a full body, hooded robe. Very basic, I thought but that wasn't what I was worried about, at all. All I knew was that the mask and Fabre were having a staredown. I noticed the other boy was doing what I was doing: looking between the two to try and figure out what the heck was going on.

Fabre suddenly started to let out small cries, moving behind me, I asked him, "What's the problem?" I ruffled his hair, trying to calm him. Yet again, there was no answer, not a single sound, other than the weak crying.

I looked back, seeing that the mask was now staring at me or through me. "Come on Fabre, we can't hide from them now." I said, as I dragged him over to the pair. He violently urged to retreat, still not making a noise; he tried to find footing to stop me from dragging him but to no avail. We, eventually, reached, what I thought was, an appropriate range to make conversation from.

The boy in the mask didn't seem like he was going to give an explanation any time soon. His mask was directed at me now, it had a slightly sad curve carved into its mouth but was almost emotionless, it kind of creeped me out. I could see a weird lining, covering his body, like wiring running around his entire being; it almost looked like his main nerves had been put on the outside.

I went to prod the wiring, it didn't seem like he was going to stop me. As I ran my fingers ran across it, it felt brittle and stiff and, even though it seemed metallic at first, it felt like a living thing; kind of like vine tendrils had viciously wrapped around its prey. This was all accompanied by an awkward silence. Yet again, Fabre had no intention of doing anything to break it. Neither of the boys seemed to, either. I kind of laughed in my head; no matter how much we looked at each other, only Fabre's eyes were visible, the rest being covered by one thing or another.

As much as I wanted to say something, I couldn't, my body had frozen up. Even my mouth was incapable of moving. Suddenly, the boy with glasses started to say something.

"A blind man walks into a bar," he paused, making sure the proper effect was given, this kind of joke was common, to say the least. "And then a table and a chair." He snorted a little bit, I didn't really know how to react.

"Straight out there with the blind jokes before we know names, what a great first impression." I started to smile a little bit, I could hear Fabre panting now, holding out his tongue.

I mumbled to him, "Fabre, don't be so embarrassing!"

"No one was going to say anything, I thought I would lighten the mood." He held out his hand, probably expecting me to return my hand… which I did. As he took my hand, I could feel his soft skin touch mine; it was beautiful. He slowly bowed his head and softly pressed his lips against my hand. I could feel myself blushing hotter than a forest fire.

"Moss," he motioned to Persi, "and this is Persi." He leaned into my ear, "Just excuse him, he's not much of a talker." He looked to Fabre. "May we know your names?" He said, as he leant into pat Fabre's head, where my hand had also, absent-mindedly, found itself. I felt his hand touch mine again and I felt my throat catch as I tried to get something out past my embarrassment.

Eventually, I managed, "Saffron," our hands were still on Fabre's head, "Fabre." I leaned in to Moss, "He's not much of a talker either, he gets shy around new people."

Moss chuckled a little bit, I could hear Persi coughing, muffled through the mask. "Well, dogs don't usually talk, I think that stays with Humans and Faunus."

"Yeah," I said weakly, "and usually blind jokes aren't told when blind people are around." I continued, kind of shyly. I don't know why but I felt embarrassed.

"Oh…" Was all he said.

Fabre let out a playful bark.

 **AN: Oh my god! The most uninteresting plot twists ever. It turns out, Fabre is a dog and Saffron is blind. lol.**

 **I tried to improve on the showing for this chapter. Introducing the third and fourth character, was quite enjoyable.**

 **Like last chapter, leave a review, it will help make future chapters better! If you enjoyed, you can still leave a review! xD**

 **Until next time, this is Mossman, have a beautiful day!**


	3. Flags, Flames and Flaming Flags

**AN: Not a whole lot to say. I have picked three OC's at the time I upload this; by next chapter I will have the final one. The first chapter using these characters will be chapter 5, possibly even next chapter if I can find a way. I may use two - three chapters to introduce them. Though, that being said, one does make an appearance in this one.**

 **For this chapter, I will introduce the fifth character. This chapter is also going to be a POV chapter, I found a lot of inspiration from writing from Saffron's perspective. There might not be another one for a while.**

 **Enjoy guys! :)**

 _ **Chapter Three: Flags, Flames and Flaming Flags**_

* * *

 ** _POV Character: Moss_**

I coughed, awkwardly. It was no wonder she had a dog, she was blind! She wears glasses, has a cane and a dog; it screams blind. Not to make a stereotype but I should have known.

"Well…" I looked around, thinking of what to say, "it's impressive that you're here, especially with your impairment." She removed her glasses, revealing bright sapphire eyes, with heavy milky clouding. She's actually really cute… I thought.

"Yeah…" she replied. This was so awkward, luckily Persi broke the silence.

"Me, Saffron and dog will go to hall." He looked to me and nodded. "See you there…" he struggled to force my name, stammering multiple times, "Moss." I nodded back.

Before they left, Saffron said to me, "See you in a bit," rather shyly, I might add. I'm not sure why she was so shy.

As they made their way to the meeting place, I couldn't help but feel a warm surge of air rush past the back of my head. I felt the back of my head, to find the tips singed. I looked to where I thought it had come from but I couldn't see anything. I looked to where I thought the heat was traveling, again, there was nothing.

I felt air dashing over my head. Reactively, I reached up and found something to grab; a leg, to be exact. I now came face to feet with a girl who was quite small, she must have been 5'6". She might have been shorter, it's a little hard to tell when they're upside down.

She was wearing a pair of pants, similar to my own dress pants, but with tassels adorning the stitching line. As I looked to her torso, I noticed a black suit, with a white shirt underneath and a black tie. While I held her, she couldn't quite make it to the ground but her cape was stacking up on the ground. It looked like some sort of velvet, shining a deep purple. Dragging along with the cape was a white, braided ponytail.

"Mind letting me go?" She asked, I could hear her impatience.

"Do you promise not to singe my hair again?" I laughed a little bit.

"If it means being back on the ground; yes." She said hastily. I let go and in an instant, she stuck a handstand and twisted her body around, eventually spinning back up to her feet.

She brushed herself off, I could see a pattern stitched into her shirt. A mild purple, it didn't seem to form any particular shape; it seemed to just be a bunch of lines. "It doesn't form anything," she said teasingly.

"What?" I asked, still trying to figure out what the lines were supposed to be.

"The stitching, the stitching that you're staring at right now." She said, dead panning.

"Oh, right…" I said, feeling kind of dumb. "…are you sure?"

"I made it, I think I'd know."

Suddenly, I saw her eyes light up, she jumped around the back of me and I could feel my belt shifting around. "This is so cool… so… retro." She was rubbing her hands over the musket and halberd on my back.

"Yeah, I didn't want something too complex. Simple and effective is just fine for me." I didn't know how half of the people here even managed to use their weapons. "What's yours?" I asked her, curious about what had singed my hair.

She pulled a thin wire out of her pocket and a flag followed with it. She took another one out of her other pocket. She slipped her index finger through a hole at the end of the string and put her middle finger through another hole next to her index finger. The same for the other hand. When she had decided that she had fitted them, she swung them around, the flags blurring around her body. One flashed a deep, emerald green and the other danced around it in a fiery orange.

She threw one flag into the air. As the flag was released from her fingers, it was engulfed in flames and let off a stream of smoke. It started spiralling back down. She caught it with ease; spinning her body she let go of the other, sending it straight to a tree. One second she was standing still, the next she had propelled herself after it in one fluid motion. As it rebounded off the tree, she caught it, jumped up and twisted her body in the air, sending another one off at me. Reactively, I stepped to the side, drew my halberd and caught one of the holes with the point. It rotated around for a while, before slowly coming to a stop.

As I looked back, I could see her lightly plant her feet on the ground, smiling proudly. "Do you like them?" I took the flag, still smoking from the recent flames, and tossed it back to its owner.

"I don't know if like is the right word, more like-" I said, impressed by her acrobatic demonstration, not that it was anything special but she had a certain flare to her. She cut my sentence short.

"Love," she said happily, "that's what you were going to say, right?"

I shifted my glasses and ran my fingers through my hair, "Yeah, dead on actually." Not much can surprise you when you've seen someone at Beacon with a dog, not even someone who knows what you're going to say. I started to introduce myself, realizing I didn't know her name but apparently she already knew my name too.

"It's nice to meet you Moss; you can call me Indie." She said. As she whipped her cape, showing only purple and the white tail behind her, she dashed off at speed.

Most of the students had made their way, leaving a few stragglers behind. I decided that I should get there, before I missed anything. Before I departed, I could hear something, like a whisper. I quietly hushed the incoherent muttering and started to follow someone else.

"Do you know where we're going?" I asked, as I closed in on my newest acquaintance.

He turned around slowly, I couldn't help noticing the wolf ears at this point, "I was hoping you'd know." He said, slowly and quietly.

"Well damn."

 **AN: Like always, tell me what you think. If you think a friend would like this, tell them too!**

 **Until next time, this is Mossman, have an amazing day.**


	4. Training Practice and an Innuendo

**AN: Holy crepe, November was a long time ago... but, new year, new me; hopefully.**

 **I'm going to start trying to find time to upload once a fortnight consistently (possibly quicker, if I can manage) and work hard on making chapters with 2 - 3k words, or more if I can. So, expect higher quality content, higher quantity content and an actual schedule.**

 _ **Chapter Four: Target Practice and some an innuendo (Somewhere)**_

* * *

Moss walked alongside the faunus, looking over to him every so often to take in another piece of clothing. He couldn't see any of his skin, since he was facing away from him, for whatever reason. What Moss could see though, was black shaggy hair, vaguely similar to his own, a black hoodie, blue jeans and a pair of black sneakers. He pulled up the hood, hiding his ears and hair.

"You know I'm over here, right Wolfie?" Moss asked rhetorically, "You can act like I'm here, if you want." He continued on.

The other boy looked to him again, hood shading his face. He pulled back his hood, brushing against his hair and ears, he was blushing slightly. He started to say something, rather quietly, "They're not wolf ears." Moss was confused now, mainly because he hadn't heard him.

"What was that?" Moss noticed now, his olive skin and orange eyes; canines shaped slightly like a dogs. "Yup, definitely a faunus," Moss thought to himself.

This warranted a sigh from his newest colleague. He cleared his throat, preparing to raise his voice, "They're not wolf ears," he repeated, with a slightly louder tone, "They're jackal ears." He finished, looking back ahead of him and away from Moss.

Moss raised his eyebrow, "Look at me," Moss said, emotionless. He did as he was told and returned his eyes to Moss'. He was slightly unnerved by the dead stare Moss was giving him, "Now tell me; do I look like I care?" Moss kept the blank face and tone, looking more and more dead by the second.

They stopped now, their bodies turning to face each other. Neither was physically imposing on the other, both being fairly similar in height and build. Moss noticed that the other boy looked straight at him, seeming both scared and strong, at the same time. "Ummmmm… no?"

Moss smiled now, "Good, I'm sure me and you will get along just fine." Moss started laughing. "What's your name?"

The other boy weakly laughed along with Moss, clearly unamused by the joke, "Grey."

"Well met Grey. Moss." Moss, rather than shaking Grey's hand, rubbed his hands through Grey's hair. Grey blushed even more than he had before.

Grey slowly pushed Moss' hand away, "We should find the others," Moss simply nodded and started heading in the direction that he thought they were supposed to go. Grey sighed, blushing, and caught up with Moss.

* * *

Moss and Grey had managed to eventually find everyone else, both face palming from how easy it should have been. The hall was packed quite tightly, with just enough space to walk in between everybody. Saffron had spotted Moss and caught his attention by waving her alsatian in the air. "What a sight." Moss thought to himself

Something else came to mind, "Either that dog is really light or she is really…" Moss looked to his side, only to see Grey looking right at him, "…strong." Moss finished, sighing, "Are you right, there?" Moss said, kind of disturbed by the slight invasion of his personal space.

Grey backed up a little, "Sorry," was all he managed.

As he tried to find Saffron again, he also looked out for Indie, thinking that he would be able to see the flare of her purple cape; but, in the sea of colours, he was unable. He quickly found Fabre again; now he could see Saffron and Persi. Saffron looked happy to see him again and Persi, well, he simply nodded in acknowledgment of his presence, before facing towards the stage at the front of the hall.

The hall was fairly simplistic, with a hard wooden floor, walls that curved upwards, arching at the top and lights scattered all around the room. At the back of the hall, was a stage, the only part of the hall that had anything on it. It was a simple, raised platform, holding a microphone.

Moss made his way to rejoin Saffron and Persi, noticing Grey following closely behind, "Are you a lost pup or something? I'm not the only person here; you know that right?"

Grey looked around, noticing that there were, indeed, other people in the hall. "Well yeah but…" Grey sighed, as Moss looked on questioningly, "I don't know any of them."

"Well, I wouldn't say you know me…" Moss dragged it out, waiting for Grey to leave. Grey simply blinked in return. "Fine, but don't make too much noise."

Grey smiled and pulled his fingers across his mouth, promising he would stay quiet.

"You're back!" Saffron exclaimed, smiling, "Who's that?" Saffron pointed behind Moss, to Grey.

"That's Grey, I had to show him the way to the hall." Moss looked over to Grey, "Grey, this is Saffron," he then pointed to Persi, "and that's Persi." Grey meekly waved to them.

Persi looked over to Moss again, acknowledging him and Grey with a nod.

"So, any idea what's going on?" Moss asked, curious as to what was going to be said.

Saffron shrugged, Persi also gestured, without turning around; suggesting he was also clueless about the specifics. "It looks like the headmaster is letting everyone settle in and then he's going to give a speech or something." Saffron said calmly, only assuming what this was all about.

Suddenly, microphone static could be heard cutting through the chatter, "Welcome first years," Ozpin had taken his place in front of the microphone. Mug and cane in hand, he took a sip, "I'm sure you are all excited to settle in your new home." He shifted his glasses, taking another sip from his mug, "But, you must know, all candles die. Some quicker than others. Beacon will help keep your candles burning, however, it will be your responsibility to fuel it. Ultimately, some of you will flicker and meet your fate and others will defy theirs, creating a fire much brighter than they could expect. Which candle you will be is important to find out, while you are here."

He took yet another sip from his mug, before nonchalantly leaving the stage. A woman replaced him behind the mic. Dressed in white and purple, with blonde hair, she coughed, clearing her throat. "You will be sleeping in the ballroom tonight, initiation will be tomorrow." A student raised their hand, "What is it?"

"What happens if we're late." They asked, clearly afraid of the response.

"Don't be late." She said, smiling evilly; replacing her usual expression of what could only be assumed as annoyance.

Moss looked around at his fellow first years, "That was… rather dark, actually."

Saffron was very confused, not remembering all of the speech, "Should have gotten some brighter candles then." She said, managing a sardonic laugh, Moss joined in too, while Grey didn't find it funny, at all.

"I see what you did there." Persi said, plainly, "Or rather, I don't." Moss, Saffron and Grey looked over to him, confused as to whether they should laugh or not; they decided not.

* * *

Persi had found his own place to rest for the night. Simply meditating, skipping through dinner and conversation. He didn't show any signs of stopping. Saffron had quickly finished dinner, thanks to Fabre's help, and set up camp in the ballroom. Securing a nice spot for her, Moss and her dog to sleep. She had been engaging in conversation with a couple of people. Not caring much for conversation, she barely made it past greetings. Moss had returned to the front path of the complex; that stony walkway that had welcomed him to the next four years of his life.

He took a knee, aiming his musket, he fired a shot at one of the surrounding trees. It hit its mark with pinpoint accuracy, blowing a large chunk of bark into the air. He unholstered his halberd, putting the end, opposite of the blade, into the barrel; cleaning it, making sure there were no faults in the next shot.

He climbed one of the trees, finding a vantage point. As he balanced himself on one of the thinner branches, he steadied his breath, taking a shot at the same point on the tree. The hole in the tree was deepened, as another bullet hit the mark, this time piercing through the other side.

He had cleaned the barrel yet again, climbed down to a lower tree branch and took aim, once again. He steadied his breathing, as he aligned his eye with the sight of the gun. He rested his finger on the trigger, waiting for the lineup.

Suddenly, he heard someone speaking. He assumed it was directed at him, "That's quite the design for a gun. Powerful, single shot, but clunky and lacking in elegance." Moss tried to find the speaker but he couldn't, without taking his glasses off.

"And who has any business speaking about my gun?" Moss wondered aloud.

"Somebody who actually knows something about old pieces of junk. The exact same thing as what you have." They said.

Moss was unable to hear any emotion. What he could hear, though, was that it was a girl. "Probably another first year, thinking it's hilarious to do this."

"I'm sure if I pointed it at you, it wouldn't be quite so funny." Moss dropped down from the tree now, searching for his opponent.

From behind him, he heard someone say, very quietly, "Who's laughing?"

He jumped, turned around and had the barrel of his gun in a girl's face. "Heh, usually I only do this with girls I know."

The new girl looked unimpressed but Moss assumed that's what she always looked like, judging from her tone. "Usually, I don't talk to people who point guns at my face. But you seem to have at least some appreciation for relics."

"What is it with people calling my gun old? I made it!" Moss shouted.

The new girl laughed hysterically, for a few moments, before returning to serious mode, "If you knew anything about single shot rifles, you'd know that the one you're using is an utter piece if garbage. I use a sword and I know that!"

Moss didn't say anything, for a few seconds, before prompting her name, "Moss, absolutely lovely to make you acquaintance." He said, with a sardonic grin, as he extended his hand out and bowed slightly.

The girl did not take his hand and simply started walking back, toward the complex, "Lucerne. Hopefully, you won't ever have the need to say it."

"Wow, that's rude." Moss said, quite simply, as he examined his gun. "You're not old, you're just…" Moss looked for the word… "Damn, you really are old." He sighed, in defeat.

Moss tried to forget what had just happened and continued on with his target practice, but his aim was completely off. After a few minutes passed, he noticed someone else make their way outside. A certain purple cape was the only thing he could see, shining brightly in the moonlight.

As she saw him, Moss could faintly make out her waving her hand, to which he waved back. She started running now, as Moss walked towards her. "Moss, get behind a tree, or something."

Moss looked at her, inquisitively, "Why?"

As Indigo reached him she put out her hand and started pushing him to the side, "Persi said he was going to meet me out here, and I think I know why. If you have any regard for your own life, you'll stay out of sight."

"Well, this brings back memories… not ones I particularly want to relive but if it means I live, than I'm fine with that." He said, rambling, "Though, I'm not really sure what you're talking about. How do you know Persi?"

Indigo's only response was to put her finger to her mouth, and hush him. She then moved back out onto the pathway. As Moss peeked out, to watch her, he could hear a very low breathing; almost right next to him. He didn't dare turn to see who or what it was, as he them start speaking, in a low, muffled voice, "Hello there… I didn't expect to have someone else lurking in my domain." They finished with a very quiet laugh.

* * *

 **AN: What is it with Moss and people coming up behind him? Is Moss comfortable with it; is everybody part of a conspiracy to make Moss uncomfortable; who's domain is behind a tree?**

 **Find out, next time, on... Do I really have to say that?**

 **FMSPVAD (Because even typing the whole thing is a little ridiculous).**

 **Until then, this is Mossman; have a bloody good day, mate.**


End file.
